ELECTRICHEAD
by Misc.Frog
Summary: AU. 'We're all just victims of class'. As life continues to throw crap at them, Kenny, Kyle, and Stan decide to form a band. They use the music as therapy for their real problems. But what happens when the real problems drown out the music?
1. The Music-Shack

_Author's note: Something to keep in mind going forward, this story begins in the year 2006, on October 26th. This is a significant day. Just a reminder, this is an AU, so if some things don't add up that might be why..._

 _Prelude..._

 _"Kenny we can't practice today..." Stan said, as he had just heard the news. Kyle was standing still like a statue out of shock. Kenny glared at Stan, whiskey bottle in hand, taking a swig. He licked his lips and grit his teeth, fighting back his emotions._

 _"Just start playing dammit!" Kenny shouted. Stan grasped his drumsticks uncomfortably as a clearly intoxicated Kenny McCormick was waving his microphone around like a lunatic. Kyle glared at the blonde, leaning his Gibson SG against an amp to walk over to him._

 _"Ken, c'mon, you gotta take it easy." Kyle said, reaching out to take Kenny's hand. Kenny swatted at the hand, sending Kyle reeling back. "Kenny!"_

 _"No talking..." Kenny said, hiccuping. "No...talking... just..." He pointed to Stan, tears in his bloodshot eyes. The raven-haired boy gulped and began to play, starting with fast hi-hats. Kyle cursed and picked up his guitar. He looked over at the discarded Fender bass guitar that was sat up against the mini fridge, right where Karen had left it._

 _Kyle began playing fast chords, exactly what, he didn't care, he let the music tell a story as he kept up with Stan's aggressive drumming. Kenny threw his whiskey bottle at a nearby wall, watching as it shattered, spraying golden streams of alcohol and glass shards in multiple directions._

 _Kenny let out a painful scream into his microphone, not giving a shit who in the neighborhood they were annoying. He wanted to make some noise, to be loud and angry. Stan, Kyle and Kenny poured their hearts out through song. They all wanted to forget, to go back to how it was before..._

 **ELECTRIC HEAD.**

 **Chapter 1: The Music-Shack.**

Kyle crawled out of bed, his fro an absolute mess as usual. His normal hair was a nightmare, but bed-head with his hair was unspeakable. He wrestled with it as he put his hat on, having switched from his old ushanka to a simple dark green beanie. Next was his jacket, which was now replaced with darker brown coat, which fit him better than his old oversized orange monstrocity. Then he put on some pants, yes, he dressed backward, he realized this when he started changing for P.E. Kyle didn't care, it seemed more efficient this way, start from the top and go down.

"Kyle hun, I'm going to the mall, you wanna come?" Sheila shouted from behind his closed door. She posed the question with a hint of doubt in her tone. He usually said no the these requests. He had begun to fully grasp how much of a bitch his mom was, and was less and less inclined to spend time with her, even shopping alone with her seemed daunting.

"Ya sure." He said, throwing her a metaphorical curve ball. He began to think it wasn't metaphorical, because she didn't respond for a minute.

"Oh... o-okay." She said, obviously surprised at Kyle's sudden change in heart. "I'll be in the car when you're ready."

In reality, Kyle still thought she was a bitch, but he wanted to buy the new My Chemical Romance album that came out today, and didn't have another way of getting to the mall, and was too cheap to pay for gas if one of his friends drove him. Sheila wouldn't make him pay for gas, that was a given.

"Okay." He said as he heard her leave. He put on some shoes, old dirty converse, and made his way out of his room, leaving the house and meeting his mother in the car. They pulled out of the driveway and cruised to the South Park Mall.

oOo

"Get the fuck back here kid!" The local mall cop shouted as Kenny zoomed past on his skateboard. He ollied over a park bench with precision only acquired through trial and error(mostly error), and rolled on over to his destination, the mall's very own music store, called The Music-Shack. He stopped his board and ran into the store, taking cover behind a stackout.

He watched as the mall cop ran past the entrance of the store, chuckling as he stood up. He put his board in his backpack, and slung it over his shoulders. He began to inspect the selection, just your average garbage, Gwen Stefani, The Black Eyed Peas, and garbage(the band). He scoffed at the collection and heard a voice from behind him.

"Kenneth." Kenny turned around to see a fat boy with acne and a smirk on his face, dressed in a Music-Shack employee's uniform. "Looking rather edgy today." Cartman said. Kenny was dressed in torn jeans and a old black leather jacket, with patches everywhere, not out of fashion, but out of necessity to hold the thing together.

"Fuck off dude." Kenny snickered. Cartman looked over at what Kenny was looking at just moments ago.

"You lost?" Cartman knew Kenny's musical taste, though didn't agree with it, he was more of a jazz guy. He just figured it was a phase. "The new metal stuff is over there." He said, pointing over to a stand near the corner of the store.

"Nu Metal?" Kenny scoffed. Cartman shook his head.

"Oh right, no I meant the brand new metal albums are over there." He pointed again to the stand. Kenny nodded.

"That's better."

"Shut up." Cartman said, following Kenny over to the stand. He was always curious about metal music. It was a morbid curiosity. Kenny tried to get him into it, but chose to introduce him with a song from _Cattle Decapitation_ , and it didn't go well, to say the least.

"Don't you have a job to do?" Kenny asked. Cartman shrugged.

"I'm helping a customer." Cartman said. Kenny nodded. He began to glance through the new releases.

He chuckled and held up _Cattle Decapitation's_ newest release, _.Karma._ Cartman shivered, causing Kenny to giggle.

"The shit you listen to dude." Cartman rolled his eyes. Kenny smirked and fished through the CDs some more. "Did you hear from Stan today?"

"Na, thought he'd call Kyle first," Kenny droned, inspecting a _Cannibal Corpse_ release. "Y'know, cuz they're besties and all." Kenny said.

"Well he's taking this breakup a little hard don't you think?"

"He's borderline Emo, what do you expect?" He settled on _Christ Illusion_ by _Slayer_. "Can't go wrong with Slayer, am I right?"

"I guess." Cartman said. Kenny winked at him and walked up to the register, which Cartman stepped behind. He took the album and positioned it to be scanned. He paused. "Am I paying for this?" He asked. Kenny smiled.

"I'll pay you back babe." Kenny pleaded, smiling. Cartman sighed, and scanned. He took a twenty out of his pocket and threw it into the register. He gave Kenny a five, much to Kenny's confusion.

"Go buy breakfast or something, you look thinner than usual."

"Thanks." Kenny said. Cartman walked back onto the sales floor.

"Oh, and stahp skateboarding in here, I can't bail you out forever." Cartman said. Kenny nodded. He had been kicked out before, and yes, Cartman had been the one to bail him out.

"Okey dokey artichokey." Kenny said, walking to the exit, but as soon as he got past the country music section he heard a familiar voice.

"I'll be just a minute Mom." Kyle said. Kenny grinned, and hid behind a stand. Kyle walked past him, and the blonde boy lept out, receiving a swift smack from his victim.

"Ow shit!" Kenny howled, rubbing his cheek. "I totally deserved, that but damn that was a little too hard babe." Kenny chuckled. Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Sorry for slapping you, but you shouldn't have jumped out at me like that."

"Something wrong dude?" Cartman, of all people, asked.

"Why do _you_ care?" Kyle snipped. He caught himself and sighed. "Sorry, and kinda, it's just my Mom's typical bullshit..."

"Nothing about your mom is typical dude," Kenny said, going stiff in case Kyle decided to slap him again. "Care to specify?"

"It's the whole 'Rock is the devil's music' speech as usual..."

"Well I don't think your mom has much room to talk on the whole devil thing..." Kenny stiffened again, ready for Kyle's strikes. Kyle, surprisingly, didn't retaliate.

"I'm just about tired of her shit." Kyle said.

"Well you don't have much long left, besides," Cartman said. He walked back behind the register, and pulled out a small cardboard box. "It's here." He said, gesturing to the box.

"You guys got it?" Kyle asked. Cartman nodded, taking a box cutter and slicing through the packing tape. He pulled the flaps open and pulled out one copy of My Chemical Romance's _The Black Parade._

"Awesome!" Kyle beamed, approaching the counter, wallet in hand. Cartman rang up the album and handed it to Kyle, taking his cash and depositing it into the register, giving his change back to his waiting hand. "I've waited so long for this album to come out, you guys have no idea!"

"Yeah, you've been going on and on about this band for months now." Kenny deadpanned. "Say, have you heard from Stan today?"

"No..." Kyle said. "Why is he okay?" He was suddenly worried, clenching his new CD tightly.

"I dunno." Kenny said. "He broke up with Wendy last night, figured he'd talk to you first."

"Me too." Cartman added.

"Why _didn't_ he?" Kyle stared off into nothing. He blinked and looked over at Cartman. "Come with me!" He ordered.

"Wait what?"

"Just shut up and come with me!" Kyle demanded. Cartman gulped.

"Hey Jimmy?" A brown haired boy looked up from a computer. "Hold the fort for a minute, gonna go on break." He said. Jimmy gave him a thumbs up, and Cartman left, following Kyle into the lobby.

"Where the hell is she?" Kyle asked nobody in particular.

"Where are we going?"

"You're going to drive me home." Kyle stated.

"I am?"

"Not really, but you need to convince my mom you are." Kyle said. Cartman caught on and nodded. "There she is." They approached Sheila Broflovski at an appliance store.

"Kyle, You took too long so I just started browsing." She said, holding up a small box, which appeared to be that of a food processor. Kyle raised an eyebrow.

"Mom, I'm gonna hang out here for a while." Kyle said.

"How are you gonna get home?" She asked. Kyle pointed at Cartman. The fat boy huffed.

"I'm gonna drive him home ma'am." Cartman said. Sheila sighed. "Don't worry, I'm a safe driver." He added.

"Fine, but be home before nine." She said. Kyle nodded.

"Okay bye mom." He said, as he walked off, Cartman trailing behind. Once they were far enough, he decided to let out a chuckle. " _Ma'am?"_ Kyle laughed.

"Would you have preferred bitch?" Cartman asked. Kyle laughed even more.

"It's just weird hearing you be so polite." The two walked down the way they came. "And _safe driver?_ Gimme a break!"

"Don't make me hit you." Cartman growled as they approached their destination.

They walked up to the Music-Shack and were greeted by a scene. The local mall cop had Kenny pressed against the glass, and was beginning to cuff him.

"EY!" Cartman shouted. "Hands off him Antagoniste!"

"I saw him skateboarding through the food court a half-hour ago." The mall cop stated.

"Antagoniste, don't make me..." Cartman pulled out a yellow envelope. "...show them!" With that, the mall cop yelped and removed Kenny's handcuffs. He ran off, trying to remain calm, as he was obviously terrified.

"What's that?" Kyle asked.

"An envelope." Cartman said, opening the envelope to reveal that it was empty. "I'm fake-blackmailing him."

"Genius." Kyle said. He then turned his attention to Kenny. "Skateboarding? Really? In a mall for christs sake!"

"Cartman already gave me the rundown." Kenny sighed.

"I swear, sometimes you sound like a stereotype." Kyle said, shaking his head.

"Okay, so why did you say you were going to hang out here all day?" Cartman asked.

"I'm not." Kyle said. "I'm going to see Stan, I just need a cover."

"Are you forbidden to see him or something?" Kenny asked.

"Something, I guess," Kyle sighed. "Every time I mention him, she gets all fired up." Kyle said. "Just don't want to deal with any of that shit."

"I feel ya," Cartman said. "It's the same when I talk about Kinny near mah Mom." Cartman said.

"Really?" Kyle asked.

"Well not to as much of an extent, but yea," Cartman said. "Mah mom would get all worried when I tell her I wanted to hang out with Kinny."

"I guess we're just victims of class." Kyle sighed. Cartman nodded, Kenny, however, gave the two a glare.

"So am I driving you gahs or no?" Cartman asked both Kenny and Kyle.

"I said you weren't, I can walk home." Kyle said.

"But I want to." Cartman said.

"I don't mind," Kenny said. "Skating on the icy sidewalk is not fun."

"Wait you _want_ to drive me home?" Kyle asked. Cartman nodded.

"Sure, I never get to see you any more, maybe we can catch up or somethin." Cartman said. Kyle shook his head.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go see Stan," Kyle said, approaching the exit of the store. "I'll let you know how it goes." He added before leaving. Kenny looked at Cartman.

"I'm gonna go get breakfast." Kenny said. "Want anything babe?"

"Nah," Cartman said. "Treat yourself." He giggled. Kenny then left Cartman alone in the Music-Shack...

 _Author's note: This is a story I've had brewing in my mind for ahwile. I've always wanted to write a more serious fanfic, and this was my opprotunity. Thoughts? I would appreciate any and all feeback, positive or negative. Please fav, follow, and review. Love you all!_


	2. Friends Who Love You

_Pre-face: These past few chapters serve as a prologue to the formation of the band. I figured some people come for the band-dynamic, but right now is just backstory. Chapter 3 will establish the band..._

 _On with the show..._

 **ELECTRIC HEAD**

 **Chapter 2: Friends Who Love You.**

Stan Marsh sat alone in his bedroom. He rubbed his forehead, a headache had been driving him crazy all night, and he hadn't slept. After last night, he didn't feel like sleeping. He felt like dying.

"Stan?" It was Randy Marsh, knocking on his son's door. "Stan, it's dad. I need to talk to you."

"I'm fine, go away." Stan spat. There was an awkward silence as footsteps echoed away from Stan's door. He could hear a faint, 'good luck.' before another knock is heard.

"Stan please lemme in," Kyle's voice rang through the wooden door. Stan sighed. "Please, I got something to show you." Stan raised an eyebrow. Maybe he hadn't heard the news yet, and he was here for a genuine reason, other than to talk him down. He decided to give Kyle the benefit of the doubt, and walked over to his door, unlocking it.

Kyle stood in silence as Stan didn't even bother to say hi, instead walking back over to his bed, and firing up his genesis. Kyle closed Stan's door and approached Stan's bed, watching as the other boy played a round of Sonic the Hedgehog. He sat down beside him.

"What'd you wanna show me?" Stan asked, blank-faced as he cleared the first stage. Kyle eyed him, fetching Stan's cd player and earbuds.

"I'll need your full attention dude." Kyle said. Stan groaned, and paused his game. He looked over to see Kyle holding a copy of _The Black Parade._ Stan's eyes gaped.

"Dude you got it?!" He beamed. Kyle nodded, tearing the plastic off and opening the case. He pulled out the booklet and gazed upon it in awe. This was their ritual when getting a new cd. He and Stan would gawk at the booklets, reading lyrics and appreciating the artwork, before partaking in the album itself.

Kyle put the disc into the cd player and hit play, handing Stan an earbud. He set the sound to mono and they listened.

oOo

Kenny McCormick sat alone in the food court of the local mall. He bought himself two sausage McMuffiins, and was slowly nibbling at the first one whilst listening to his new cd on his Discman. He was bobbing his head to the opening track, tapping his fingers to the kick drums, and genuinely rocking out. He had finished his first McMuffin and was about to open the second one when a tapping on the shoulder snapped him out of his trance.

"You okay Ken?" It was a rather tired looking Butters. Kenny noticed how drained the other blonde looked, with sunken eyes and ruffled hair(even more ruffled than usual). Butters caught Kenny staring, and flashed a fake smile.

"I'm fine." Kenny said, removing his headphones. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah.." Butters said, taking a seat. Kenny eyed him.

"Don't lie to me babe." Kenny deadpanned.

"How can you tell?"

"You didn't sleep last night did you?"

"It's that noticeable huh?" Butters looked at his reflection in the glass table, touching the dark bags underneath his sky blue eyes. He sighed.

"What happened?"

"Something happened, but that doesn't matter," Butters said, rubbing his knuckles together. "And it made me realize something."

"What do you mean?"

"I realized that I'm worthless." Butters said, lowering his head. Kenny frowned. The normally cheery Butters was sad, and he had to do something about it.

"You are **not** worthless Butters." Kenny stated, directing his voice right at Butters' heart. He paused at the awkward silence that followed. "Want a sausage McMuffin?" Kenny added. _Wow,_ Kenny thought, _Smooth dude, what's next, 'wanna listen to Slayer with me?'._ To his delight Butters smiled at the funny question, and appeared to appreciate Kenny's effort.

"Sure, but I'll buy my own." Butters giggled.

"What's the matter?" Kenny grinned. "Afraid you'll catch my cooties?"

"Na, just figured you'd want to eat the whole thing since you paid for it." Butters said.

"C'mon, we'll split it." Kenny said, unwrapping his second McMuffin, then tearing it in half. "I insist, besides I already ate one." Kenny pointed to the wrapper from the first McMuffin. Butters smiled and scooted closer to Kenny, taking his half and biting into it.

"It's good." Butters beamed.

"Ever had a McMuffin?"

"No," Butters admitted. "My parents always said McDonald's was unhealthy fake food..."

"That it may be," Kenny said, taking a bite of his own half. "But at least it tastes good."

"I guess so." Butters said. "Hey have you heard from Stan?"

"How'd you know about it?" Kenny was surprised. Somehow, Butters always had the inside scoop.

"I was at the party." Butters said. Kenny blinked.

"Party?"

"Yeah, didn't you hear the story?"

"I only heard the breakup part." Kenny was genuinely interested now. Butters cleared his throat and began to tell the story...

 _The night before..._

 _There was a party at Butters' house. His parents were out of town, on some business proposal trip or something, nobody really knew, and nobody cared. All they knew was that Butters was an amazing host, and managed to keep the party under control for most of the evening. It was your typical affair. Loud music, booze, cigarrettes and marijuana poluted the garage of the Stoch residence. Yes, the garage. Butters had only one rule at this party, it was that nobody set foot in the house unless they were going to the bathroom._

 _Wendy Testaburger was seated in a soft recliner Butters had set up for himself, but she got to it before he could. She watched as Stan took a shot of whiskey and stumbled backward. He giggled as he watched Token repeat his action, handling the booze better than he had. Wendy made a drama of clearing her throat, and Stan turned to face her._

 _"You stink." She scowled. Stan scoffed._

 _"What'd I do?"_

 _"Lemme see," She put a finger to her chin in an exaggerated gesture. "First and foremost, you're drinking, second, you dragged me here so you can participate in this shitty ritual you males are so passionate about." She droned._

 _"Lighten up babe." Stan said. "At least I'm not an alcoholic like my dad..." Stan leant in to kiss her, she put her hand over his face._

 _"You_ _ **are**_ _your dad." She growled upon catching the scent of alcohol on his breath. Stan froze._

 _"I am not my dad!" Stan shouted, causing the whole room to conentrate on them._

 _"Great, now everybody's gawking at us!" She barked. "Y'know what? While we have everybody's attention, I figure I should make it official now..."_

 _"Wendy don't..." Stan said, his voice now trembling. "Please, we can work it out." He walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She swatted his hand away._

 _"No, I don't want to..." She spat. "I don't like you Stan, I never liked you, I only dated you because you played football, you were going places, but now you're just a piece of shit stoner who parties at Butters' house!" Stan stood there in silence as she tore him apart. "I'm done with you Stanly Marsh!"_

 _Wendy stormed to the garage door, pulling it open all the way, allowing the scent of booze and weed to waft into the air. Butters panicked and ran to pull the door down as Wendy stomped off. Stan stood still, nobody dared to try to talk to him._

 _"Okay g-guys party's over." Butters stated. Everybody groaned and left through the garage door, leaving a mess for Butters to clean up. He decided to take a crack at Stan. "You're welcome to stay here tonight, i-if you want." He said, patting Stan's shoulder, which seemed stiff as concrete._

 _Stan shook his head, before exiting through the garage door. Butters sighed and began his cleanup..._

"The one time I didn't go to one of your parties..." Kenny sighed.

"Yeah, it was crazy." Butters said, finishing his half of the McMuffin. "I sure hope Stan's alright."

"Kyle went to go talk to him."

"Good, Kyle's the person who needs to be there for him, since they're best friends after all." Butters said. Kenny saw that sad face again. He sighed and grabbed Butters' head. The blonde's eyes went wide as Kenny pulled his mouth into a smile.

"There we go!" Kenny cheered.

"Stop it Ken!" Butters giggled, grabbing Kenny's hands. They both laughed.

"C'mon," Kenny said. "Let's go see Cartman."

"He's working today?" Butters asked. "After that party I figured he'd be hungover."

"Cartman was there?"

"Oh yeah, even Jimmy was there."

"Well that's interesting."

"Huh?"

"Nothing let's go babe." Kenny said, wadding the wrappers into a ball and tossing them into a nearby garbage can. He took Butters' hand and led him back to The Music-Shack.

Cartman was busy re-organizing the recently crowded pop music stand. A bunch of little girls went batshit crazy over the new Justin Bieber album, and now he was cleaning the debris. He heard people enter from behind him.

"Welcome to The Music-Shack!" He announced. He heard a giggle.

"Why thank you sir." Kenny snickered. "Could you direct me to the self-help cds?" Butters gave Kenny a playful punch.

"Leave him alone Ken," Butters said. "He's just doing his job."

"Hey Butters." Cartman waved after turning to face the two. "Well don't you look great this morning."

"Man you're just full of love today..." Kenny said, holding his face in his hands and letting his eyes twinkle.

"Not you dipshit," Cartman spat. "You okay Butters?"

"Oh, yeah I didn't get much sleep." Butters rubbed his knuckled together as he said this. Kenny put his arms around the smaller blonde in a reverse hug.

"Butters here had a rough night," Kenny said, petting Butters' hair. "He thinks he's worthless, but that's bullshit, cuz Butters is anyting but worthless." he mushed his face into Butters' head.

"Why do you think that?" Cartman asked. Butters shrugged, pulling away from Kenny's hug.

"I dunno," Butters said, letting his gaze fall to his shoes. "After seeing Stan so sad, and not being able to help him, it just made me feel worthless."

"There wasn't anything you could've done Butters." Cartman said, putting his arm around Butters shoulders. "Once Stan's in a mood, Kyle's the only one who can really help him, they'd make a good couple." He admitted.

"Cartman." Kenny scolded.

"Ah'm serious." He said. "just don't tell them I said that, they'd get all pissy."

"Kay so, when do you get off work?" Kenny asked.

"In an hour, why?"

"An hour? Forget it, I'm gonna take Butters home." Kenny said, pinching the smaller blonde's cheek. Butters smacked Kenny's hand away, giggling.

"I'm fine on my own." Butters whined.

"Na I think you need someone to look after you." Kenny said, pulling Butters' back into another reverse hug. He gave Butters a peck on the cheek. "I wanna hang out babe."

"Just don't rape him Kinny." Cartman sighed.

"I would never hurt my Buttercup!" Kenny said.

"Okay okay, just lemme go Ken." Kenny did just that, and Butters spun around and planted a kiss on Kenny's lips. It was quick, and Cartman observed with the roll of his eyes.

"Get a room." Cartman scoffed. "I'll swing by after work, you gahs stay on the sidewalks, people are driving extra stupid today." He warned, before resuming his duties at the Pop music Stand. He was simpy jealous of their relationship and how close they were. The two had only been officially together for a week, and they act like a married couple. It was strange also, that they didn't seem to spend as much time together as would create that kind of bond. They simply loved each other, and Cartman wanted something like that.

"Okay let's go Ken." Butters said. With that the two left The Music-Shack, leaving Cartman to his devices.

oOo

"Wow." Was all Stan Marsh could say upon ending the album. Kyle had a look of glee in his eyes.

"That was awesome." Kyle said, grinning.

"I loved the drums on _Dead!_ "

"I really liked the guitar intro on that song!" Kyle grinned. "I wish I could play that on my guitar." He said.

"I bet you could if you practiced hard enough." Stan said. "Now drumming? That's a whole other world."

"You play?"

"Totally, I got a drum set in the garage." Stan said. "I can play some MCR stuff, but I'm more used to like, Zeppelin stuff."

"So that's what I've been hearing." Kyle said, laughing.

"Sorry dude."

"No it's fine." Kyle said, patting Stan on the back. "Thanks to you, I don't need a metronome."

"Sure." Stan said, grinning. He paused. "Hey dude?"

"What?"

"We should practice together." Stan said.

"You mean like a band?" Kyle said. Stan nodded.

"Yeah kinda." Stan said. Kyle sighed, lowering his head.

"That sounds fun but uh..." Kyle paused. "I think we need to talk first."

"About what?" Stan glared at Kyle, who gulped and sighed.

"I just want to know how you're handling what happened last night..." Kyle said. Stan's look grew harsh. He frowned.

"I fucking knew it." Stan growled. He got up and walked to his dresser. "You just assume I'm all upset, that I'm just a mess without her, well y'know what..." He stopped, as he began to cry. Kyle got off of the bed and approached him.

"Stan..."

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Stan screamed. "Wendy dumped left me because I'M A PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Stan listen to yourself," Kyle said. "You aren't a piece of shit, you're a good person, and Wendy's just a stuck-up bitch!"

"You don't call her that!" Stan shouted. "She's right, you know she's right, I'm just a piece of shit stoner! All I do all day is smoke, drink and play my fucking drums!" He cried out as he began to shudder. Kyle approached him again.

"Stan listen to me," Kyle said, tears in his eyes. "You can't let her tell you who you are..."

"Get out..." Stan said behind his teary eyes. Kyle's heart sank. He was always able to help Stan out of his depression before, but now it just wasn't working.

"But I..." Kyle felt a lump in his throat.

"I said get out Kyle..." Stan sniffled. Kyle was visibly shook. He obeyed, and left Stan's room. He contemplated what had just happened as he exited Stan's house. Kyle always knew how to get through to Stan, but this time, none of his tricks were working. He couldn't help his best friend, and he felt like shit.

Kyle stopped dead in his tracks and sat down on the curb. It was a snowy day outside, and his nose felt numb, but he couldn't continue walking. Kyle cried into his sleeve, his tears almost instantly freezing to his face in the cold. He didn't care about the cold, he wanted to freeze to death and die on that curb.

Just then a car pulled up and stopped. Kyle hoped to god that they'd just leave him there to freeze. He hoped it wasn't some stranger interested in being a good semaritan. Kyle curled into a ball and buried his face in his knees, in hopes of avoiding eye contact.

"Kahl?" It was Cartman's voice. Kyle reluctantly looked up at the fat boy standing above him. Cartman had a look of horror on his face. "Kahl c'mon!" He then brought Kyle to his feet, and pulled him into his car, a red sedan.

Cartman closed the door, got in the drivers side and turned his heat up. He reached into the back seat and pulled out a blanket, and wrapped it around Kyle, who accepted it. It smelt vaguely of Cartman. It wasn't a bad smell, in fact it was quite comforting.

"What happened?" Cartman asked finally. Kyle didn't want to talk, he was still shocked at the turn of events. Cartman nodded and produced a small cd binder, he handed it to Kyle. "shotgun picks the music in my car, unless that shotgun is Kinny." He said.

Kyle inspected Cartman's collection, alot of old jazz records, with some classic rock sprinkled throughout. Cartman wasn't as big of a music guy as Kyle was, so he wasn't too shocked at the lack of variety. He settled on a rather tame looking Eric Clapton cd.

"Wise choice friend." Cartman said, popping the cd into the player and hitting play. Soon the car was rocking to the beautiful chords of _Wonderful Tonight._ They drove slowly through South Park, Cartman taking occasional glances at Kyle.

"I talked to Stan..." Kyle began.

"You don't have to tell me what happened if you don't want to."

"But I should," Kyle said, voice cracking. "I'm scared Eric. I'm scared for Stan."

"Stan's gonna be fahn..." Cartman assured him. "Ah'm driving to Butters' place. Ah'll call your mahm and tell her you're staying the night." He said. Kyle smiled.

"That'd be great." Kyle said.

"Good, cuz we're here." Cartman said. They pulled up in Butters' driveway. Cartman exited first, followed by Kyle, and the two walked up to the front door. Cartman gave the door a knock, but nobody answered. Kyle saw the brunette sigh. "Gahd I knew it." Cartman groaned, opening the door. Kyle, slightly confused, followed him into the house. He immediately caught the stench of weed. He winced at the strength of the odor, but overall was used to it.

"Damn." Kyle exclaimed.

"I figured as much." Cartman sighed. "They're probably fucking right now." Kyle blushed at that last statement. He knew Butters and Kenny were together, but he never figured they were already having sex.

"What?" Kyle suddenly felt his motherly instincts kicking in. He listened intently to the sounds of the house, trying to pinpoint any noises, particularly sex noises.

 _Ah Kenny!_

Kyle took off up the stairs, with Cartman struggling to keep up. He approached Butters' bedroom door and swung it open, revealing a very naked Butters with Kenny between his legs. Neither of them seemed at all concerned that they now had an audience. Kyle watched uncomfortably as Butters came with a loud moan.

"Hey guys!" Kenny beamed. Kyle cringed upon seeing a small bit of cum on Kenny's bottom lip. Kenny caught on and licked his lips instinctively. "Sorry I figured you weren't showing up."

"Well Ah'm pretty sure you scared Kahl off with your gayness!" Cartman joked. Kenny giggled. Butters, coming back to earth from his orgasm, covered himself with Kenny's discarded jacket.

"Gee I'm sorry Kyle." Butters said. "I was just so stressed and..." He blushed.

"I relieved that stress..." Kenny grinned.

"It's fine, just know that if you hurt him, it's your ass." Kyle said sternly, a finger pointed at Kenny.

"Sure thing." Kenny said. "So how'd it go with Stan?" With that Kyle withdrew. He folded his arms and suddenly was quiet. Kenny's smile faded.

"Stan's just too broken up about this..." Kyle said. "I tried to get through to him, but I just couldn't..." He said, tearing up again.

"It's gonna be okay Kyle." Cartman said, patting Kyle on the back. Kyle sighed.

"Let's go pay Ol' Stanly a visit shall we?" Kenny said. Kyle looked at him with wide eyes. Kenny handed Butters his pants. "Get dressed babe, we gotta get goin." He said.

"Wait we can't all go see Stan!" Kyle said. Cartman and Kenny ignored Kyle as they headed to Cartman's car. Butters took a second to get dressed, and followed Kyle out.

"It's gonna be fine Kyle," Butters assured him. "Maybe if we're all there to support him it might help."

"Yeah I guess so." Kyle said with a smile.

They all piled up in Cartman's sedan, with Kyle riding shotgun and Butters in the back seat with Kenny. Kenny had Butters seated in his lap, for no particular reason other than to make everybody else in the car uncomfortable.

They drove in silence, mostly out of Kyle not having anyting to say. Kyle usually started the conversations, but the only words spoken the entire ride were from Butters. "Ken stop it..."

"Okay we're here." Cartman said, then he noticed there wasn't a car in the driveway. "Where are Stan's parents?"

"Dunno, they were here earlier." Kyle said. Cartman exited the car along with the other three boys. They could immediately hear the song _I Don't Love You_ by My Chemical Romance playing on full blast. "Oh he still has my cd." Kyle commented.

They entered Stan's house after an unanswered knock. They were immediately met with the true volume of the music. It canceled out the boys' breathing. The music was so loud that if there was a gunshot, they probably wouldn't have heard it.

"Damn, you kids and your rock music!" Kenny, of all people, shouted, covering his ears. Kyle walked up the stairs to Stan's room, the others followed. Kyle stopped at the door and looked at the three boys.

"I'm gonna go in by myself first." Kyle said.

"What?" The other three asked. Kyle just groaned and gave them the 'wait here' signal. They all nodded and he turned the doorknob.

Kyle opened the door slowly. His skin got goosebumps as he remembered listening to this song for the first time with Stan a mere hour ago. He remembered how in just seconds, they were torn apart, all over Wendy. Kyle swallowed as he closed the door behind him. He scanned the room, not seeing Stan. He walked over to the stereo, where he saw the case for his cd sitting, with a piece of paper folded over it. He studied it closely, thinking it to be a note of apology for kicking him out earlier. He glazed over this and walked over to Stan's bed. He saw the discarded cd player, and a tangled pair of earbuds tossed to the side. He then noticed a familiar blue beanie poking out from ledge of the bed. Kyle took in a breath as he walked around the bed to see Stan.

Something was wrong. He was pale, paler than usual, leant against the ledge of his bed, his head hanging down. Then he was his wrist. Kyle let out a scream as he saw the blood and discarded razor that caused it...

 _Author's note: This is turning out to be a really sad story. Just like real life, it gets better, I promise. Anyway, please fav, follow, and review. I love you all!_


	3. Practice Makes Miserable

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm baaack! I cast my deepest appreciation for those of you who are still reading my work. Now here's the long-awaited(at least I hope so) third chapter of ELECTRIC HEAD. Enjoy!_

 **ELECTRIC HEAD**

 **Chapter 3: Practice Makes Miserable**

Kyle was fidgeting as he sat in a cold unforgiving chair in the South Park Clinic. He and the other three, being Kenny, Butters, and Cartman, had rushed Stan to the clinic upon finding him. Now they were waiting, and Kyle hated waiting.

They were all seated in three waiting room chairs, with Butters once again in Kenny's lap. He was petting the smaller blonde in silence, comforting him as he sniffled. Cartman was sitting still, his legs together, and his head hanging down. He had his hands over his face, in what Kyle thought was an attempt to hide his tears. Kyle was tapping his foot on the linoleum tiles impatiently, as he was awaiting somebody to just tell him if Stan was okay. He felt responsible for what happened to Stan. He felt as if he could've done something to stop him, but he failed. He failed Stan.

"Boys." A nurse made her prescense known. All four of the boys looked up at her with nervous anticipation in their eyes. Kyle swallowed as she spoke. "Your friend's gonna be alright." Kyle cried, his tears falling down his jacket. He sniffed and looked back up at the nurse.

"Can we see him?" Kyle asked.

"Yes, but only one person at a time." She said. Kyle nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes. They huddled and devised an order, with Cartman going first. Kyle didn't question this, he thought he was the last person Stan wanted to see now. Cartman was probably the second to last person.

Cartman followed the nurse to a small room, with the one and only Stan Marsh lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to a blood bag.

"I'll leave you alone hun." She said, exiting the room and closing the door. Cartman walked over to Stan, sitting down in the chair beside his bed.

"Hey Stan..." He sighed. "I know you probably can't hear me, but Ah'm sorry for everything I ever did when we were kids. Ah've always been such an asshole, and I want you to know that I've changed..."

Stan eyes twitched, and they then opened.

"Cartman?" He breathed. "Where's Kyle?"

"He's outside, they're letting only one at a time in," Cartman said, putting a hand on Stan's. "How you feelin?"

"Like shit."

"Yeah ah bet." Cartman snickered. "Listen, you just relax dude, Butters is next, get ready for a lot of crying." Cartman said, wiping his own tears away.

"Alright, thanks Eric." Stan sighed.

"Why'd you call me that?"

"I figured you'd prefer it to 'Cartman'." He said, smiling.

"Thank you Stan." Cartman said, getting up and leaving. Then the door opened and in came Butters, blubbering and sniffling as he approached Stan, who couldn't help but start crying himself.

"Hey Butters." Stan said, wiping his new tears away. The blonde boy could only nod to him, as he struggled to form words.

"Th-thank g-god you're o-okay S-Stan, I c-couldn't i-imagine you g-gone..." Butters collapsed onto Stan's lap, who began to pet the smaller boy's hair slowly, as he cried into his hospital gown.

"I'm fine Butters." Stan said. "I'm sorry for scaring you guys." Butters shot back up and gave Stan the most intense glare he'd ever seen on that little round face.

"Now you listen here mister," Butters scorned. "You have _nothing_ to be sorry about you hear me?!" He pointed at Stan harshly.

"Yea I hear you." Stan giggled. Then Butters hugged him, at least as much as he could without interfering with his blood bag. Stan wrapped his arm around Butters small form, holding him tight. He realized that Butters would be the perfect cuddle partner. With his slightly tubby form and soft skin, he was just a bright ball of warmth. Right now that ball was crying because of somehthing he'd done, and Stan felt like shit.

"Okay, now Kenny's comin after me, he's not taking this so well, so let him know you're doing okay huh?" Butters gave Stan a light kiss on the cheek. Stan liked it. Butters was always the affectionate one, and giving kisses was his highest form of compassion, other than sex.

"Sure." Stan said. Butters then left, allowing Kenny to walk in. He looked rather pale, and since he started wearing that leather jacket, he gave up covering his face. Kenny walked up to the bed, and leaned down to Stan.

"What is wrong with you!?" He shouted. Stan was taken aback by Kenny's sudden anger.

"What?"

"Why would you attempt suicide!?" Kenny growled. "Are we such shitty friends that you'd leave us, just because Wendy told you off!?"

"It wasn't just that." Stan said, crying. "It was everything, my entire life was falling apart, and that was just the last straw Kenny!"

"Why?" Kenny leaned over Stan's form, edging his face closer to the other boys'. "We may not all admit it, but we love you Stan..." Kenny said. He then kissed Stan's nose, causing him to blush. Butters kissing him was one thing, but Kenny, the sexual deviant, kissing him was akin to him eyeing you up. Strangely, Stan wasn't uncomfortable, in fact, Kenny's presence was oddly soothing.

"I just..." Stan said, a tear rolling down his flushed cheek. "I just felt like it wasn't gonna end..." He said. Kenny sighed.

"Stan, it always gets better..." Kenny said, walking to the door. He opened the door and looked out at Kyle. The jew boy let out a shaky sigh, before shaking his head, and walking off. Kenny went after him. "Kyle where you going?"

"I'll be right back," Kyle said, making his way to the exit. "Tell Stan I'll be right back!" With that he was gone. Kenny stood there, confused as all hell. He poked his head in Stan's room.

"Kyle said he'll be right back." Kenny said.

"What?"

"I dunno either, but he stepped out for a minute." Kenny said.

"Oh god..." Stan gasped. "He probably thinks it was his fault, I gotta go to him!" Stan attempted to get out of bed, but Kenny rushed in and held him down.

"Relax, he said he'd be right back."

"But I'm worried about him..." Stan said.

"Well he's just as worried about you I'm sure," Kenny sighed. "Just give him a minute." Then the door opened. Kyle walked in, carrying a guitar case. He looked at Stan, and nodded to Kenny, who then left them alone. Kyle set the case on the floor, opening it. He pulled out a Gibson SG electric guitar and sat in a chair. He looked at Stan, who appeared very confused. Kyle began to play some peaceful chords.

"I'm so so happy you're okay..." He said, trying to fight back his tears of happiness after having faced such grim circumstances.

"Kyle I..." Stan began, but Kyle stopped playing, and for some reason, this made Stan stop talking. Kyle continued the strumming.

"I thought about what you said..." Kyle began, as he then switched to a more upbeat arrangement. Stan liked Kyle's guitar playing. He had definitely been practicing.

"About what?"

"About, how you wanted to...practice together," Kyle switched back to his faster strumming, yet still maintaining the same peaceful melody. "Like a band right?"

"Y-yeah..."

"Tomorrow, I'm comin to your house and we're gonna practice..." Kyle said, it sounded like a statement, more than a request. "We're gonna start a band." He said.

"Kyle-"

"Shh, just listen..." Kyle began to play a fast rock riff, he looked up and smiled at Stan. "I wrote that last week, but I'm having a hard time coming up with a drum part." He said. Stan listened to Kyle's riff, dissecting it in his head to form a beat. He began to mimic drum sounds with his voice, and soon they were playing a song. Kyle strummed like a pro, and Stan's sound effects were on par with real drums. The 'song' ended, and they both grinned at each other.

"Okay, tomorrow, we'll practice at my house." Stan said. He had tears in his eyes. It touched him that Kyle wanted to do this with him, even if it was just to support him, he appreciated every bit of it. Kyle continued to play his guitar until Stan dozed off. The ginger-headed boy couldn't bring himself to leave his friend, so in that very chair he slept...

oOo

The next day...

"A band?" Kenny was interested. He had gotten Kyle to tell him the whole story. Kenny had always wanted to be in a band, but couldn't bring himself to ask anybody else to help form one. He wasn't about to ask Kyle.

"Yeah, kinda." Kyle sighed, scratching his head. They were at the local mall, eating breakfast at McDonalds. Stan was with them, but he was currently going to the bathroom, and Kyle figured he'd tell Kenny about the band. "We're just practicing together, it's not legit or anything."

"That's still cool though." Kenny said. "Can I join?" He popped the question, almost without acknowledging he'd done so. He nearly had a heart attack right there as Kyle got that perplexed look on his face.

"You don't have an instrument." Kyle said. Kenny tried his best to maintain his confidence.

"I got my golden voice." He said with a phony british accent. Kyle smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Hell yeah, I sing all the time."

"Well so does my mom," Kyle said, cringing as he recalled his mother's dreadful rendition of _Sweet Home Alabama._ "I'm fine with it, you'll just have to ask Stan when he gets back."

"Oh c'mon, It was already hard enough to ask you."

"Aww, is Kenny McCormick nervous?" Kyle poked Kenny's nose, causing the blonde to swat at his hand.

"Shaddup." Kenny giggled.

"Consider asking Stan your first lesson in being a frontman." Kyle said, as Stan approached the table, and sat down. He opened his egg Mcmuffin, and took a big bite.

"S-Stan?" Kenny said. The raven-haired boy perked up to look at Kenny, a bit of egg on the edge of his mouth. Kyle stuck his finger out and took off the bit of egg, and ate it. Kenny did that kind of stuff with Butters all the time, but it was weird for Kyle to do it to Stan. Stan didn't seem vexed at the least by the sorta-kinda-gay gesture.

"Yeah?" Stan's eyebrows shot up. Kenny had zoned out apparently.

"I was wondering if I could uhh..." Kenny sighed. "I was wondering if I could join your band with Kyle."

"You told him?" Stan asked, glaring at Kyle, who shrugged.

"Didn't know it was a secret." Kyle giggled, finishing off his hashbrown. Stan sighed.

"Do you have a bass or something?" Stan asked.

"He wants to sing."

"Fuck you dude, I can speak for myself."

"Wait what?" Stan blinked. "You wanna sing?" Kenny breathed.

"Yeah."

"Alright, fine."

"Really?"

"Sure." Stan said. "We're heading right over to my house after this, I got a microphone for you to use." He took a bite out of his Mcmuffin. "We'll see if you're worthy." Stan mumbled through a mouthfull of sausage, egg, and cheese.

"This is so cool!" Kenny beamed. He began to fantasize about singing his heart out in front of a massive crowd, that shouted his name as he howled. He imagined Kyle ripping a killer solo, and Stan following him on drums with impressive precision. Alas, something was missing from this fantasy. "But what about bass?"

"We'll worry about that some other time." Stan said. They continued to eat their breakfast in a collectively eager silence.

oOo

Butters waited for Kenny on his front porch. He sat on the cold concrete stairs that led up to his door. He played with his phone, fidgeted, and stared at passing traffic, awaiting that familiar green beat up suburban. Butters remembered the first time he rode with Kenny in that car, and the first time he kissed Kenny in that car. Then there was the first time they made love in that car. Butters always remembered the scents of that automobile, a mixture of weed from countless smoking sessions, and dust from the car's old age. He thought of all this as he sat.

"Oh gee, where's Ken?" Butters whined. Just then, a red sedan pulled up. Butters acknowledged the automobile, but wondered why it stopped. Though, he couldn't help but think it looked familiar, as the driver's side door opened. A brown-haired head poked out.

"Ey, get in Butters!" Eric Cartman called. Butters, slightly confused, rose from the porch step and approached the car.

"Ken's supposed to be pickin me up..." Butters said. Cartman nodded.

"He's busy right now, he asked me to pick you up on my way home from work," He explained. "He wanted me to drop you off at Stan's dad's shed... dunno why, but I figured I would oblige..."

"Gee thanks Eric," Butters paused. "But that does sound kinda sh-shady though, don't you think?"

"Yea, it didn't come out right," With that, Cartman opened the passenger door. "C'mon."

"O-okay." Butters slumped into the vehicle, buckled up, and they departed. Cartman was a surprisingly safe driver, contrary to popular belief. Butters assumed it was the fact that he was more intrested in self-preservation than punctuality, so he drove near-grampa speeds. "So I gotta question for ya Eric."

"Shoot."

"Why didn't **you** tell Kenny and Kyle about what happened at the party?" Butters said. "You were there, weren't you?"

"Ah was there, but if you remember correctly, Ah was with _Youknowwho_ in your room, Ah didn't even know it happened until they told me." Cartman said, blushing slightly. Butters sighed.

"Eric, you don't hafta say _'Youknowwho'_ around me, we're by ourselves, nobody's listening in..." The small blonde addressed. Now it was Cartman's turn to sigh.

"Ah know, but..." Out of nowhere, Cartman pulled over to the curb, stopped the vehicle, and dug out his cd booklet. He then pulled out a black disc, and deposited it into the cd player. He hit play, and dialed the volume down. The car was soon filled with the quiet sounds of Tool.

"Y'know, he's gonna think that you're ashamed of him, if you keep hiding it." Butters said. "Besides, when Kenny and I came out, nothing happened, in fact, barely anybody noticed."

"Ah'm pretty sure everybody already knew you two were gay." Cartman spat, then he took in a deep breath. "Ah'm sorry Butters."

"It's okay, you're stressed out..." Butters said. "Did Kenny tell you _why_ he wanted me at Stan's Dad's shed?"

"Na... He just told me to drop you off there."

"Well now **I'm** stressed..."

"About what?"

"Nothin, c'mon let's go." Butters said. Cartman started the car back up and drove into the backwoods of South Park, where there was a large metal shed, that Stan's Dad won in a contest, and just left to rot. It had power, which explained the Marsh family's ridiculous bills.

They pulled up to the shed, and immediately they could hear music. It was loud, and sounded pretty good. Cartman huffed, and Butters just looked confused.

"Did Kenny mention having a rave?" Cartman asked sarcastically.

"What's a rave?"

"It's a magical thing, where people do drugs and rape each other..." Cartman joked, but upon seeing the look of horror on Butters' face, he quickly added, "kidding... Okay, off you go."

"O-okay..." Butters exited the vehicle, and stepped closer to the shed, with sounds of music erupting from it's decrepit steel construction...

 _SECONDARY AUTHOR'S NOTE: Once again, I thank everybody who reads my work. I plan on continuing this story in particular, because it hits close to home. However, I am willing to continue the saga of Craig as the South Park Stress Reliever, so don't fret, great things are coming! I love you all!_


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